Basic form, manuscript form
(concentric walls without stylistic details)
Ariadne's Thread
(the center of the path)
Shows axial and orbital movement
Shows axial and orbital movement
All elements combined
Pattern, rectangular diagram, compression diagram
Example: a 3-circuit reverse serpentine is also known as a single meander.
The 7-circuit Classical pattern is a compound construction: equal layered meanders (two single meanders joined by a circuit).
Thread diagrams can be oriented in different ways depending on who created them and that person's system or usual habit. If you only look at self-dual labyrinths, it may not seem to be that significant. The chiral mirror images — the right- and left-hand versions of the pattern — are easily recognized, and the rotated versions look the same due to two-fold rotational symmetry.
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Bottom to top
Left to right
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Bottom to top
Right to left
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Top to bottom
Left to right
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Top to bottom
Right to left
However, when looking at a pattern that is not self-dual, the importance of knowing the orientation of the diagram becomes more apparent.
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Bottom to top
Left to right
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Bottom to top
Right to left
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Top to bottom
Left to right
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Top to bottom
Right to left
On this website, you will mainly see bottom to top, left to right diagrams. I have deliberately chosen this orientation because of how it corresponds to the walker's experience standing at the entrance, plus how I configure my main axis diagrams to read from left to right especially for more complex labyrinths.
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Entrance to third circuit
Center from fifth circuit
with nested turns below